Cowa-Bunga

How we fast-tracked a tech startup

Delivering Cowa-Bunga’s delivery platform

Together with Afrolabs, Cowa-Bunga launched their platform in July 2017. Kimberley Taylor and Bradley Rimmer, co-founders, had already secured one substantial client by this stage. By February 2018, they signed on yet another one. They also went on to scoop up the Best Enterprise Solution award at the MTN Business App of the year in October 2018. All of this in under 2 years. How did they convince the powers that be that their last mile delivery platform was the solution to some long-standing problems?

Traditional delivery meets e-commerce

Brad and Kim, on a fact-finding mission, found that last mile delivery solutions lack a configured experience, with no driver digitization or consumer involvement. They also identified prospects in retail. As Brad explains,

Traditional retail faces great pressure to apply the convenience of e-commerce because that's what their customers want. But, with the cost involved, they're struggling to keep up.

They’d made some great discoveries. They were armed with some disruptive ideas, but what could they do with them? Brad had had enough corporate experience by then to know they’d have to strike out on their own if they wanted to see their ideas come to life.

“We heard horror stories about software development”

Listening to other startups, Kim became scared and untrusting. As she was also still working part-time, whilst trying to get their business off the ground, stress levels ran high.

Their first stop was Playlogix, an Afrolabs partner company. Playlogix knew about Afrolabs’ history and expertise with location-based applications for startups and referred them. With not a ninja turtle in sight, Brad came for the first meeting in Cape Town. He confesses,

I was feeling a bit like Bambi in the headlights. I was a product owner but had no idea what I was actually supposed to be doing...going from corporate to a tech environment and being just clueless about what was going on.

“Get out of the building” - Steve Blank, Silicon Valley entrepreneur

David Campey, Afrolabs founder, saw great potential, but his steadfast belief in the lean startup approach meant he first he had to show some tough love,

It was very promising, but, as always, before getting going we pressed them to 'get out of the building' and get that first client on board, de-risking the product. Then, we could focus our efforts. To get Cowa-Bunga's tech up and running, we proposed licensing a pre-built, location-based tech stack. This software could get us delivering pizzas for an actual client sooner, rather than later. It was the basis on which we could iterate to build a great platform.

Catching the curveball

However, soon thereafter, the first potential funder fell through. This was a serious blow, but because they’d started by having a customer secured for market validation, and a clear, de-risked technology plan, Cowa-Bunga went on to secure investment with Lightstone soon thereafter. The product could finally get going.

“Getting money from an investor was no joke,” says Brad, recalling the great pressure and expectation they felt after receiving investment. But, there was no time for wringing of hands when pizzas awaited prompt delivery.

Cowabunga dudes! Going live.

1.5 months later, on July 17th 2017, the platform went live. It was an intense burst of energy that Brad recalls fondly,

We went live, and it worked! Nothing else matters. We high fived and went out for a beer. What more can you ask for from partnering with a development company? Through this process we've made friends, we've learnt a lot...I feel they're not just business colleagues, to be honest.

“Afrolabs’ support and input were constant.”

Kim shares further about their experience, “I can’t tell you how lucky we feel; building the software together was an incredible experience. That’s why we’re so confident selling our platform. It’s a huge relief knowing we can continue to develop our product with Afrolabs.”

Brad’s impressions on how they achieved their goal,

With Afrolabs, the focus was shipping a quick, robust solution. Every effort was taken to be as cost-effective as possible, to get to market as quickly as possible and to be the best in the market. I think you're really going to struggle to find companies like that.

Kim, on why Cowa-Bunga stands out from the crowd,

1.5 months later we had an amazing product that differentiates us from other companies. By creating business insight, it provides an instant and very high return on investment. We see time and money saved within the first month of implementing.

Kim also reflects on how it’s improved the work experience of drivers, “It’s been humbling to see how it affects them. Routing on their phones means less stress getting lost. Customers are already outside to meet them; they don’t have to negotiate security to get into a complex. They get a lot of flack from employers and customers for things that are out of their control. The app gives them back some power.”

The dev team show some love

“Repurposing the code was very worthwhile and satisfying. Cowa-Bunga winning an MTN Business app award gave us this feedback that we really value, but don’t often get. It’s also rewarding to see the platform being used by real people because we take a lot of pride in doing things properly; engaging with our customers and helping them achieve their vision, rather than just doing what they tell us to do. There’s more to it than that for us. Brad and Kim were great in letting us guide them.” - Malte, Afrolabs’ ‘tool meister’

Usually a quiet dev ninja, Richard gushes, “The DOS screen, I definitely enjoy looking at that screen. It shows you where your drivers are, what trip they’re on, where the branch is, you can track your drivers, your driver can send messages to you…” Enough said

Jess, Afrolabs UX and front-end dev unicorn shares, “I loved building the landing page; a small but rewarding project. Honestly, working with Brad and Kim is the thing that sticks out the most for me. Awesome, passionate people, excellent collaborators, putting the product and the users’ needs first.”

Steven, tech’s answer to Peter Pan, enthuses, “Working with Brad and Kim, their positive attitude and friendliness…what a pleasure. Recycling our code base was a great idea. Kudos to David for seeing the potential and seizing the opportunity. Adding value for very large organizations, like Nando’s and Domino’s, gives you a huge kick. Working with the team is awesome – not just nice people; also very clever and efficient.”

Where to from here?

David expresses his great satisfaction with how things turned out and what lies ahead, “Cowa-Bunga is a wonderful example of dreaming big, starting small and shipping great products. Iteration by iteration. Looking forward to how it continues to grow and develop.”

And so, the journey with Cowa-Bunga continues as they determine to solve real-world delivery problems. They have a vision of the future; optimizing urban retail and modernizing medicine delivery in rural areas. These are exciting opportunities for Afrolabs to continue creating great products.

Syncing perfectly with an ideal Afrolabs aspire to every day - their credo: “Create our world”.